Put on your dressing gown you won’t be going far…

Thursday is a rare mid-week treat, an outing to Fibbers for the, much anticipated, only northern UK full-band appearance for the rest of 2007 of one of my favourite bands. But hold sir; let us tally first with the support acts. Kicking off we have faces familiar in York, Hijak Oscar, featuring Mr Fox on “Our Monica” and vocals, Emma Keaveney on lead vocals (nice voice Emma!), Carl Hetherington on Keyboards, Honey Love on Bass, Dave Hartley on Drums, and Mad Mark on Lead/Slide guitar. They produce a high-voltage bluesy sound. Catch them again Friday 27 July at Fibs when they are supporting Sevenball and Bosscaine.

Next up was a new band on me, The Debuts, who come from Halifax and Leeds. The band consists of Zandra (Vocals), Jordan (Guitar), Jack (Bass), Sam (Drums), David (Guitar), and frankly, they look as if they are skiving off school (except it’s evening, and half-term, doh!) Despite their youth they play competently, although the vocals are mumbled in a Robert Smith stylee and I can’t hear the lyrics. Although that might be because of my advanced years.

The smokers now started streaming back indoors as we prepared for the main event, Four Day Hombre. We moved down into the middle of the room to optimise viewing and listening. It’s been a big 12 months for FDH, seeing the release of their critically acclaimed debut album Experiments in Living; 3 sell-out UK tours; their first European and Irish tour dates; the release of a mini-album Fight Death and a 22-date national tour with Embrace and Delays, plus a month long Canadian tour and more recently appearances in New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco. I you like Elbow you’ll love FDH, in fact if you have any musical taste at all you’ll love them. Hailing from Leeds, the band consists of; Simon Wainwright (Vocals, Guitar & Piano), Rich Huxley (Vocals & Guitar), Ed Waring (Keyboards), Jason Miller (Bass), Ash (Drums). They are currently recording material for a new album and we were treated to a couple of new songs and one really old one, but essentially this was Experiments in Living: Live! with each track gloriously strung out, fantastically matured and brilliantly performed. The album is great, but live it is sublime. I particularly loved the bolero that is Single Room and audience favourite Inertia.

Friday and a bit of a dilemma; do we trot, Pavlov’s dog-like, to the Old White Swan, knowing full well that Hazzard County are not playing, or do we steer our feet in the direction of the Roman Bath and a Hull band called Penetrators that play “classic rock and blues from the 60’ to the 00’s”? Well lick my own bottom, here we are at the Old White Swan and it is jammed to the rafters. What the blithering heck is going on? Landlord Tom has bought in fem-fronted covers band Under the Covers (no hyperlink, sorry). The John Smith’s and FOR (Female Orientated Rock) must had had a bewitching effect on us because, despite the crush, we didn’t seem capable of leaving. The mix of covers was quite diverse; Pink, Aerosmith, Fleetwood Mac, Bryan Adams, Scissor Sisters, Elton John, Bruce Springsteen, Santana. I thought The Cranberries Zombies was particularly left-field and I really enjoyed that. There was a bit more funk that is generally good for me and seeing blokes dance is always a scary sight. The lead guitarist was extremely good (sorry didn’t catch your name) and the bass guitarist, Helen, was excellent. The lead vocalist had a great voice, but again, I didn’t catch her name.

I’m waiting for an angel now/to lift me up above the clouds

Friday sees a return to Fibbers to watch the much lauded indie band, Jyrojets. First on the bill is local band Lips Akimbo (that’s a local band, for local people). A bit strange in the way the band members don’t like to start playing all at the same time, or even to all finish at the same time, but the middle bits are OK in a toe-tapping sorta way. The second band on are The Federals, another York band and one that I think I’ve seen before. The bass player is very energetic and the sound is a bit like the love child of The Velvet Underground and The White Stripes.

Finally, on come the Jyrojets. You can tell that they are a proper band; they have a proper website, not just an entry on MyFace. Hailing from Scotland, The Jyrojets are: Colin Fraser (Lead Vox, Guitar), Chris Bain (Guitar, Vox), Martin Stewart (Keys, Vox), Veeb (Drums), Dougie Edwards (Bass). Their debut album is set for release late summer, and they released a single, ‘Favourite Thing About Jane’, on 14 May. They have supported some big names; Richard Ashcroft, Dirty Pretty Things, The Kaiser Chiefs and The Ordinary Boys, and played festivals in Spain and Moscow. Overall they sounded a bit like The Supernaturals, a late 1990’s indie-pop band, also from Scotland, who enjoyed minor chart success with hits such as Smile, I Wasn't Built to Get Up, Love Has Passed Away and The Day Before Yesterday's Man. Strangely enough, I saw The Supernaturals at Fibbers as well, and frankly, I thought that they were a lot better than the Jyrojets. So a bit of a disappointment, but at least it was smoke-free.

After the gig we literally ran through York, in and out of doorways, trying to avoid the torrential rain, to get to The Old White Swan where Hazzard County were just finishing off their first set. I was drenched but the thing that made the barmaid laugh was a red badge on my jacket lapel which read ASBO, in fact a promotional badge for a single by Limousine. Sitting at a table right in front of the stage area was Chris Helme (ex-Seahorses, now The Yards). Later in the evening I had a chat with Chris who was pretty shattered after an exhausting week. He left some flyers with me for The Yards next gig at The Post Office Club on Marygate, Thursday 26th July.

Saturday evening was a trip to the Roman Bath where Bradfordband Full Tilt treated us to a cacophony of rock classics, covers from the likes of; Deep Purple, Black Sabbath, Bad Co., Free, Lenny Kravitz, AC/DC, Judas Priest, Metallica, G’n’R (well strictly speaking Bob Dylan’s Knocking’ on Heavens Door), and Nirvana.

Put up a fight you believe to be right/And someday the sun will shine through.

Friday and I’m not out tonight. I’d taken a flex day off work and spent the day working on my book. Completely cream crackered, so I had an early night.

Saturday I watched ‘Live Earth’ which was a bit average. Some of the acts were good, some sounded a bit weedy and rubbish. Given the serious message that the musicians were trying to get across, I was disappointed that Jonathan Ross didn’t know if they recycled rubbish in his house. Presumably he is too famous to actually throw his own rubbish away. This is probably the death knell for big charity events and I can’t say that I’m sorry.

In the evening the girls (and boyfriends) decided that they wanted to go to the cinema, so off we trundled to Vue at Clifton Moor where we watched F4: Rise of the Silver Surfer. I’m sorry but I’m a bit nerdy and like these super hero films, probably because reading the comics filled much of my mis-spent youth. I really liked this film.

On the way back into town three of us got dropped off and ended up at the Roman Bath where we were treated to a superb set from Barnsley covers band, Vamp (Vintage rock through Valve Amps). Vamp are: Steve Firth (Vocals, Rhythm and Slide Guitar), Ian Wilkie (Lead Guitar, Backing Vocals), Mark “Hutch” Hutchinson (Bass), and David Wilson Jones (Drums/Percussion). They played a refreshing mix of The Faces/Rod Stewart (Stay With Me, Maggie May), Free (Alright Now, The Hunter, Wishing Well), Rolling Stones (Sympathy for the Devil, You Can't Always Get What You Want), Status Quo (Caroline, Rocking All Over the World), Diamond Dogs (Every Little Crack), The Undertones (Teenage Kicks). Needless to say there was plenty of audience singing and dancing going on. Top stuff! Highlight of the night? It was all smoke free!!!!!

Sunday was the British Grand Prix from Silverstone with Hamilton on pole position after a nail-biting during qualifier on Saturday. Massa managed to stall on the parade lap and was reduced to starting from the pits. Although he bravely worked his way back up the field, he never looked as if he was in contention. However, at the front Hamilton was under constant pressure from Raikkonen and after the first set of pit stops he had slipped back into second place. Alonso fought hard and managed to wrest even that from Hamilton, pushing him back into third. Still, nine podium places from nine starts is a formidable record.

I need some time in the sunshine...

Wednesday and I’ve finally got around to watching Seven ages of Rock, the final programme, What the world is waiting for. I haven’t ever though of The Smiths as being an indie band, although I never found them very ineresting and so never took much notice of them (oh heresy!) I guess the first time I really twigged was with The Stone Roses, not that I ever liked them either, but at the time I was beginning to be aware of other bands whose tunes were starting to grow on me. One of the clips that the programme showed was The Happy Mondays doing He’s Gonna step on you again, a tune that irritated me on two fronts. Firstly, I didn’t like the Happy Mondays (didn’t like much did you?), and secondly, the track itself was a rubbish cover taken from the very fine 1971 album Kongos by John Kongos, a South African singer/songwriter, which I owned.

Of course Brett Anderson (Suede) hit the nail on the head when he said (and I paraphrase here) that as soon as a genre of music escapes from its underground roots and becomes widely enjoyed, the big labels move in and it becomes commercialised. I personally enjoyed the first two albums from The Stereophonics, but after that they were very popular and descended into the commericla mainstream. It’s the nature of the beast I guess.

The Blur v Oasis, sorry Noel; Oasis v Blur, chart battle was, for me, the beginning of the end of that period of “indie” music, and certainly Oasis at Knebworth was the final nail in the coffin. The blip on the Radar of Rock that was BritPop was a glorious time for music, 1994/5 saw the likes of Elastica, Sleeper, Manic Street Preachers, Suede, Gene, Supergrass, The Boo Radleys, The Charlatans, The Verve, Kula Shaker, Shed Seven, The Seahorses, Ocean Colour Scene and The Bluetones, to name but a few. And bubbling below the surface were some minor bands that were producing good tunes as well; Longpigs, Whipping Boy, The Spin Doctors etc. It was flipping brilliant! Of course “indie” continues because there are still independent record labels out there but the music then moved to a harder, edgier sound with bands such as 3 Colours Red, Muse, and Feeder.

Oops, back to the programme and the series ends with clips from The Libertines, Coldplay, The Artic Monkeys, and Franz Ferdinand. Although of course The Libertines were not the first band to have played “guerrilla gigs” or impromptu sessions in their own front rooms, Scary were doing that while Pete Doherty was still in nappies. What ever happened to Scary? Anyway, a brilliant series and I shall definitely (maybe) be looking out for the DVD.

It's one o'clock and time for lunch...

I’ve not watched Seven ages of Rock yet, so you’ll have to wait. However, Friday night was fairly awesome. Four of us turned up at Fibbers to witness the last ever gig of The Nicoles. Shame! I turned up at 20:00 so I missed the first band, Milk Round Brown, so I can’t comment on them, sorry chaps. As I settled into the first few sips of Worthington, on came The Becoming Suits, and I can’t say I was terribly impressed, although the lead singer sounded a bit like a very young Byran Ferry. Next upon the stage... Limousine and a different kettle of kittens altogether. A five piece from Blackpool, I really enjoyed this band, in fact I even parted with cash and bought the album and single. Fantastic. Personally, I think they sound a bit like 100 Reasons, but they cite their influences as; Pearl Jam, Nirvana, Motley Crue, U2, Oceansize, Elbow, AC/DC, Faith no More, Jeff Buckley, Smashing Pumpkins, Stone Temple Pilots, The Who, YOURCODENAMEIS:MILO, R.E.M, Queen, Beatles. That can’t be bad, can it?

By this time Fibs was absolutely heaving, it must have been nearly at capacity, and the band we has all come to see, The Nicoles. On the verge of a tour, on the verge of greatness, on the verge just outside my house.... they split, and this was the farewell gig. The crowd loved it and sang along with all the songs. We squeezed about half way through the throng but stopped just short of the jumping, seething mass of youngsters. This was probably the best performance that I’ve seen them give, and for their two encore songs, they invited the audience to shout out what they wanted the band to play, Xbox and Food and Ambulance, firm favourites with everyone.

The pubs were still open when we left so we chanced our arms at the Old White Swan, just in case Hazzard County still existed. Sadly the Hazzards weren’t there but many thanks to Mike who stumbled across this link http://www.myspace.com/hazzco where I can find out when they will be playing next (13 July at the Old White Swan). Meanwhile, back in the Bat Cave.... we had NZ Dave and Simon Snaize on vocals and acoustics, a chap on a double bass, one on a snare drum, an a lady on violin. They were actually pretty good, but I got a bit distracted by three lovely Geordie lasses. Oops.

Sunday was the French Grand Prix and a jolly exciting way to spend the afternoon. The Ferrari new aero package was enough to give them the edge over the McLarens and Raikkonen zipped past P2 Hamiliton and even managed to get the better of Massa to grab the trophy. Alonso battled bravely back and managed to nick 2 points, even Button scraped one. Albers dragged a fuel hose out of the pits and was forced to retire. I can’t think why Hamilton was on a three stop strategy when everyone else was on two. With a pit stop taking about 27 seconds he would have been in much closer contention with Raikkonen and Massa, but hey ho, he did get a podium finish and he’s still well in the lead in the driver’s table. Can’t wait for next week!